New Amtrak Station Groundbreaking

October 31, 2008 — The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Amtrak Station took place today. The new station will be built at the southwestern corner of Whittaker Street and Oselka Drive. Mayor Gary Ramberg (right) spoke at the event.

Once the station is complete, non-stop Amtrak passenger service will be available between Chicago's Union Station and downtown New Buffalo.

Arrival and departure times for the station in New Buffalo have not been announced. However, the Blue Water departs Chicago's Union Station daily at 3:00 PM Central Time and the Wolverine departs Union Station at 6:00 PM Central Time.

Travel-time estimates have been reported between 65 to 85 minutes to get to New Buffalo. Eastern Time arrivals in New Buffalo might be at approximately 5:20 PM for the Blue Water and 8:20 PM for the Wolverine.

The Blue Water might depart New Buffalo at approximately 10:45 AM Eastern Time to arrive in Chicago at 11:14 AM Central Time. The Wolverine might leave New Buffalo near 9:45 Eastern Time to arrive in Chicago at 10:38 PM Central Time (this last train also stops at Michigan City at 9:11 PM CT and Hammond-Whitting at 9:47 PM CT).

Once the new station is operable the old station on the southern side of New Buffalo (near Whittaker and Washington Streets), which services the Pere Marquette 370 and 371 trains between Grand Rapids and Chicago, will be discontinued. The date of this transition is to be announced.

The picture below shows the ceremonial first shovel turns of the project, left to right: U.S. Representative Fred Upton, Robb Carlson of Carlson Bros. Construction, City Manager Chuck Dobbins, Amtrak Assistant Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development Mike Franke, Mayor Gary Ramberg, Al Johnson from MDOT, Council Member Jack Kennedy, and Jim Gierczyk of Gierczyk Development.

Additional pictures from the Amtrak Groundbreaking Ceremony are included below (all captions list persons from left to right unless otherwise specified).

U.S. Representative Fred Upton and Mayor Gary Ramberg in the foreground with Council Member Jack Kennedy and City Manager Chuck Dobbins in the background: